


Lay Your Trust to Rest

by TheTruthHertz



Series: Pearlnet Bomb 2016 [2]
Category: Steven Universe (Cartoon)
Genre: "Gem" is like a job position, F/F, Human AU, Organized Crime, Sad, angsty, implied slavery
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-07-14
Updated: 2016-07-14
Packaged: 2018-07-23 22:36:31
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,496
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/7482579
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/TheTruthHertz/pseuds/TheTruthHertz
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Garnet reflects on how Pearl treats her as she carries her to bed.  Set in a human AU where Garnet is a high ranked fighter and Pearl is a personal assistant/slave in the Underground.  Both are trapped in this hopeless world, yet trust forms between the two.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Lay Your Trust to Rest

**Author's Note:**

> This is a scene from another AU fic I have been writing. (though currently on hold while I finish Champion) I had a hard time ending it, so sorry if it feels like there should be more information or if you are confused. The necklaces designate their name and who "owns" them. The Underground is basically this huge crime world that facilitates all sorts of unsavory businesses. Yellow Diamond is one of the four diamonds that control a large portion of the Underground. Strict rules and hierarchy are used to keep unwilling members of the Underground in line. Gem types are like job titles. Amber = janitor/cook, Pearl = personal assistant, Amethyst = general Security/task masters, etc.

^^^^^^ 

            Long powerful strides made their way through the lit concrete hallways.  Muscular, dark, arms held a thin frame closely against her chest.  Covered eyes glanced down at the sleeping figure in her arms.  It was odd to hold someone like this, in all honesty she had never done this before, no one ever wanted to get this close to her.  Granted the pale woman was asleep when Garnet had picked her up and began carrying her bridal-style towards her sleeping quarters.  Her only other option was to leave her in the SUV since calling out her name or lightly shaking her had not stirred the pale woman from her deep slumber.  That would not have been a good idea.  When the ambers came by to clean the car in the morning, the pearl would have been severely punished by a supervising amethyst for sleeping in the car and not returning to her assigned duties.  Mismatched irises drifted to the necklace sealed around the pale woman’s neck.

“PEARL 01079

YD 0001”

            It was only different from the one permanently fused around her neck in material type and engraving.  The dark metal of her necklace glinted in the hallway light.

“GARNET 0001

YD 0001”

            Numbers were rankings, the lower the number, the higher up you were.  Pearl, as Garnet liked to refer to her as instead of Pearl 01079, had only been in the Underground for a year.  Kidnapped when she was 18 and taken to this hopeless place.  In a couple of months Pearl had been assigned to Garnet, to help out with certain things.  Garnet didn’t like the whole arrangement and hated having a pearl assigned to her.  Yet Yellow Diamond’s words were absolute, and that was the one gem she couldn’t disobey.

            A gentle tug on the front of her maroon dry-fit shirt pulled her attention back down.  Pearl was clinging to the fabric of the shirt between her breasts.  Strawberry blonde hair rubbed against her shoulder as Pearl snuggled against her.  Warmth spread from Garnet’s chest, making her feel nice and fuzzy.  Pearl didn’t mind being around her, she didn’t regard the fighter with fear or contempt, but would actually smile at her and engage in conversations with her.  The younger woman was a good sport when it came to answering Garnet’s many questions about how the world above worked.  From what Garnet could tell, Pearl had become more relaxed around her than she was with most gems over the past few months.  And by all observations, she didn’t seem to have any objections to Garnet carrying her right now.  Then again, Pearl was exhausted.  The muscular fighter looked ahead, her face neutral.  Several passing gems gave her incredulous looks.  Someone high ranked like her caring for a pearl, it was largely unheard of.  Garnet stared down any that looked too long.  None of them would dare to approach her, their fear of her was the main factor behind this behavior.  Fear of what she could do with her body and her authority.  The curly haired woman continued her march through the colored hallways towards where all of the other pearls slept.

            Her arms were slowly getting tired.  Granted Pearl was only 120lbs, but carrying that for several minutes would tire even her out.  Thick lips were pulled down in a frown, Pearl should be heavier than that.  Perhaps she had been missing meals again with how much she had been worked these past few days.  In the short time they conversed in the SUV before she had told Pearl to rest, Pearl had admitted that she hadn’t had the time to sleep or eat in almost two days.  That had certainly alarmed the fighter.  She had then basically ordered Pearl to eat her post-fight rations and sleep once she had finished eating.  The pale woman had resisted, worried about the repercussions for doing such an act of eating what was not assigned to her.  Garnet simply overrode it with her order.  All gems have to obey the orders given to them by higher ranked gems.  If a lower gem is ordered to do something against the rules set by Yellow Diamond by a higher ranked gem, the higher ranked gem receives the punishment instead of the lower gem that was just following their incorrect orders.

            Garnet sighed and turned her attention once again to the sleeping woman.  She couldn’t explain what she felt around Pearl, but it was special, different from how she felt around anyone else.  Pearl was truly someone who didn’t deserve to be in a place like this.  She was intelligent, kind, positive, and a very hard worker.  And despite what she now knew of Garnet, she didn’t recoil from her or treat her like a monster like everyone else usually did.  There was a trust there, Pearl, to a certain extent trusted Garnet.

            The realization hit the strong woman like a ton of bricks.  This woman, trusted her, trusted her enough to open up about her life before she was kidnapped and treat her like another human.  Trusted her enough that she had even initiated a couple of hugs with Garnet.  Subconsciously, Garnet held a little tighter onto the sleeping figure.

            She finally came to the hallway and with a few steps she was at the door leading into the sleeping quarters for the pearls.  With a bit of effort, she opened the door and stared into the pitch black room full of sleeping pearls.  Garnet kicked down the stand to prop open the door so the light from the hallway could guide her to Pearl’s bed.  A few heads lifted up from pillows, bleary eyes turning towards the two.  The fighter swallowed nervously, the other pearls would not be pleased with Pearl being treated like this.  Garnet steeled her nerves and walked into the room.  There was nothing she could do about that.  It was either this or leaving Pearl in the SUV.

            The closest pearl sat up and regarded the fighter with caution.

            “Where is her bed?” Garnet inquired of the pearl.

            “This way, ma’am,” Pearl 00958 bowed, quickly getting up and leading Garnet between the rows of bunkbeds.

            The dark woman could feel more sets of eyes following her every second.  Silently watching her bring the sleeping pearl to her bed.

            “This is Pearl 01079’s bed,” Pearl 00958 motioned to the lower half of a bunkbed.

            “Thank you, return to your rest,” Garnet’s low accented voice commanded.

            With another short bow the pearl returned to her bed.  Garnet approached the bed and pulled the thin covers back.  Gently she lowered Pearl onto the simple piece of furniture.  She had to pry Pearl’s hand loose from her shirt.  A mumble came from the pale woman’s lips, obviously upset that she was being moved away from Garnet’s warm body and being placed on cold sheets.  The fighter carefully removed the woman’s shoes and pulled the covers over her.  She stayed there for a moment staring at the woman she had become attached to.  Underneath her sunglasses her eyes looked up to scan the room, seeing all the pairs of eyes watching her; each glowing green with envy.  What happened to Pearl in the morning as a result of Garnet’s gesture, wasn’t something that she could stop or even protect her from.  These pearls already had it out for Pearl due to her being relatively new and yet receiving kind treatment from a high ranked gem.

_I’m sorry, I did this to you._

            She took one last long look at Pearl.  Did she trust Pearl in return?  The answer was yes, small, but a yes.  She trusted this woman with a part of her heart.  Garnet would take the chance and open up to her bit by bit.  She would trust that Pearl would not use any emotions or weakness she showed to her against her.  The fighter stood up and faced all of the pearls watching her.  Garnet turned on her heel and left the room, shutting the door behind her.  She exhaled heavily as she began the long walk to her room.  The next day was not going to be easy for either of them.  Despite what she knew was most likely going to happen to her, she really was only concerned with what would happen to Pearl.  She wished that she could stay with the pale woman and fight off all those pearls that would certainly torment and bully her in a few short hours.  However, Yellow Diamond would be very upset with her if she were to do such a thing.  An involuntary shiver ran up her spine, Garnet did not want to feel the full force of Yellow Diamond’s wrath, not while her punishment for losing that one match was still fresh in her mind.  Covered eyes looked forward.  They would both make it through this, Pearl was strong and resilient.  They would see each other again in at least a couple of weeks.


End file.
